TNs--Fun at a friend's--05 Tondonia Blanco, Paolo Beas, 11 Pearl Morrisette

I was pleased to get over to good friend Peter Papay’s lovely house–with even lovelier pool!—to share some friendship and wines with he and Nasrin and their friends. Nasrin is the hostess with the mostess, so much fun talking with her while Peter was out carpooling his other guests to the house.

2005 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco

Gave this a quick 2-hour decant and poured some on Friday night for dinner with dad, then recapped and brought next day. Superb showing, marvelous sherried touch and I love the firm focus and saline acidity that makes this such a bracing wine. The biggest surprise is that it is fully in its drinking wheelhouse just 15 years out. Not everyone’s thing, but if you know what this is, this is exactly what you hope for.

2016 Paolo Bea Il Censo Praruar

100% Catarratto, Peter knows that I enjoy these natural, orange wines almost as much as he does. And this is something quite special. It has some funk on the nose along with a big element of balsamic, but the palate really takes me by surprise. It’s amazingly smooth and almost creamy, and the flavour is sort of like treacle or toffee without the sweetness, if that makes any sense. A very memorable wine, will probably keep many years, but more than accessible now.

2011 Paolo Bea Pagliaro

100% Sagrantino. Peter has at least one more of these. I told him to leave that one at least 5 more years. This has stuffing and lots of dark fruit with bits of tobacco. On the tongue, it is pretty grippy and the wood is in ascendance right now. I do believe that there is enough fruit to integrate eventually, but it will take time.

2011 Pearl Morrisette Cuvee Persephone Cab Franc

This had come up in our wine group discussion and I hadn’t had one in quite some time—only one more left. Although I have to confess that, where the winery is now, I need to taste before I buy anything, there was nothing but pleasure to be explored here. Although it has dialed back its overall intensity, the finesse—the “baby Cheval Blanc-ness” as I put it, is fully on display and the blueberry and black raspberry fruit remains fresh enough to buoy the back palate. It will be hard to leave the last bottle for much longer

Again, Peter and Nasrin were wonderful hosts and I was delighted to meet their friends Yule and Atanas. More than made up for a disappointingly premoxed bottle of 2014 Domaine D’Ardhuy Corton Charlemagne tried the week before.

Mike, it was wonderful to see you in person after a way too long time. Nasrin and I would like to thank you for your nice wines you brought and truly enjoyed your company. Must do this again soon.

I had my fair share of disappointing bottles from Pearl Morissette but the 2011 Pearl Morissette Cuvee Persephone Cab Franc did deliver on point. Wonderfully balanced and ever so gentle it displayed a just right balance of fruit/tannins with a matching finish.

2005 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco just superb.

2016 Il Censo Praruar will be definitively on my buying list. Enjoyed its complexity and mouth plucking finish. I am not convinced that it is a wine for long aging as the next day presented a rather dull version but the memories from the day before prevailed.

2011 Paolo Bea Pagliaro was very heavy on the oak treatment upon initial opening. It came around after a couple of hours and it would have been interesting to see its performance the day after. Nasrin liked it so much that she finished the remainder the same day. I am glad she enjoyed it and we will keep the remaining bottle for her.

PM is up and down for me - very vintage- and even bottle-dependent.

Sounds like a lovely day.

Mike Grammer the kind of guy to take a Cab Franc as his date to a pool party and call her Persephone

Hahaha. Glad to see you had such a wonderful afternoon of leisure, my friend. Miss you.

Does the Pagliaro really see all that much new oak? I didn’t think there was that much new oak at Bea, but I could certainly be wrong. Sagrantino has such tannin I could see how it would be mistaken for new oak, and an 2011 is relatively young ( think the current release).

Paolo Bea doesn’t make the Il Censo wines, despite the similar labels. It is made by the Gargano family in Sicily. They are friends, of course, and Giampero Bea introduced the Garganos to their shared US importer, Neal Rosenthal.

Similar story with the Monastero Cistercensi wines.

I was at the Bea’s winery a few years ago and was really surprised now that they’ve ventured in Sicily (given Catarotto mention above). But, what do I know.

Also, the heavy oak notes on the Pagliaro didn’t seem in line with their style, unless they changed vinification style with newer vintages. Granted they have a long of aging curve (mostly in bottles), but I saw and was reminded then that the Montefalco-di-Sagrantino wines were always in very large, used Slavonian oak barrels. I’ve bought and still store 2000 - 2006 of the M-d-S wines and didn’t taste with heavy oak to me.

This sounds wonderful Mike. Hi to Peter. I love those Paolo Bea wines.

Thanks for the clarification, Blaine. Markus, it was definitely oak, not tannins/rugged fruit only. But again, I do believe more integration is in store with some bottle age. Sean, every bottle of the 11 Persephone has been really good for me—I’ve polished off at least 6 by now.

Nick and Don–thanks and hope you are both keeping well.